Games that are easy to learn and hard to master.

[ConstantErasing]

Mario definitely. In Galaxy beating the game vs. going for every single star with Luigi was a big difference. Pokemon is another obvious choice. I would also say the Fire Emblem games though a lot of that comes from difficulty settings. However in Shadow Dragon at least even if you don't use difficulty settings the difference between making a team that can beat the game and making a team that can compete against opponents on WiFi is pretty big.

 

[krazykidd]

Pretty much all fighting games. Marvel vs Capcom 3 being a horrible example though; anyone can learn Hulk and go online.

Haven't seen many hulk online actually , well i play UMvC3 so i don't know about vanilla . I mostly see , dante , virgil , taskmaster , hawkeye and nova ( man fuck nova ).

Aw man now you make me wanna play UMvC3 :/

 

[-Dragmire-]

Most rhythm games like Guitar Hero.

 

[Denariax]

Pretty much all fighting games. Marvel vs Capcom 3 being a horrible example though; anyone can learn Hulk and go online.

Haven't seen many hulk online actually , well i play UMvC3 so i don't know about vanilla . I mostly see , dante , virgil , taskmaster , hawkeye and nova ( man fuck nova ).

Aw man now you make me wanna play UMvC3 :/

I see nothing but Hulk, Nova, Wesker, Dante, Vergil, and god knows how many Wolverines.

See, I play Strider/X23, Doctor Doom, and Vergil. I just like Vergil, he has good teleport setups.

 

[JesterRaiin]

...Actually, are there any "hard to learn, easy to master" ones ???
I know a few hard-hard, but no hard-easy.

OT : Everything what's based on Magic the Gathering.

 

[Nouw]

More games need a handicap system IMO. Suppose in Starcraft 2, instead of segregating players by skill, they just made the worker unit more expensive for the better player. This would avoid a common noob problem, that often there isn't anyone online who sucks as badly as you, especially for older games.

Hmmm...I beg to differ. I think that wouldn't be very fair since the better player in skill deserves to play someone with better skill. Make X unit more expensive will only force the better player to adapt and change their macro. It would only make things harder for the newbie. But that's just what I think, I can't really comment unless it's been used.

 

[Yopaz]

Tony Hawk series. Pick up and play, but damn if it doesn't take dedication to reach mastery.

A series worth checking out in any case.

I would say almost any game out there. Seriously have you seen some of the playthrough on games like Super Mario 64, Mirror's Edge or Super Smash Bros.?
I can play thro9ugh those games with a different degree of skill, but I am nothing compared to some of the insane people out there.
CS is also a game that shows very highskill level now, especially CD 1.6, but CS:S also have a lot of really skilled players. Sure you can play against bots and beat them without too much problems, but when it comes to a online match you're hard pressed to get kills.

 

[Minjoltr]

World of Warcraft. Playing is easy but getting the most out of your character - balancing and maximising your stats, knowing when to trade off X points of this for Y points of that and how they will affect you, knowing what skills and abilities to use when, how long each will last, when to refresh and when not to, nailing your rotations, knowing where to stand and when to move, even the simple act of mashing your rotation buttons while moving out of the way of attacks or scenery and staying out of the fire - is quite a challenge when you're all thumbs like I am. And that's all before you've started learning about the techniques for combat in PvE and PvP - what attacks to use and when, how to defend, how to avoid etc.
I play a rogue and I've quadrupled my DPS since I started learning about all of this stuff and it's still nowhere near what it should be so there is a good deal more to learn.

 

[A Free Man]

Most fighting games. The objective and controls are simple, and anyone can pick one up and at least be able to play it, especially if they have any experience at all with other fighters. The difficulty comes from figuring out how each game is different from the others.

On this note try Fight Night Round 3. I am by no means a boxing fan, in fact I have never watched a full boxing fight or even the majority of one, I have watched a bit of MMA stuff like UFC but never straight boxing. Yet when I played that game I found it oddly addictive. It is really easy to start you just need to figure out the dodge, block and punch buttons and go from there. Then as you get better you can start throwing in counter punches and combinations, it is just an overall really fun game that just gets better.

 

[Zeema]

most FPS games and Batman Arkham City

also Rock band or Guitar Hero

 

[JamesStone]

...Actually, are there any "hard to learn, easy to master" ones ???
I know a few hard-hard, but no hard-easy.

OT : Everything what's based on Magic the Gathering.

The 3D Fallout´s come in mind. Especially Fallout New Vegas. If it´s your first playtrough, you'll get killed. A lot. Cazadores, Deathclaws, Legion and NCR strike teams, Golden Geckos, Nightkin, and you get the ideia. It´s hard as fuck not getting pwounded so bad the first time you play it. But after you understand the basics, and after you set a mental note to "never come back to Death Wind Cave being only level 8 you maniac", the game becomes easy, and mastering it is much more comfortable.

 

[JesterRaiin]

...Actually, are there any "hard to learn, easy to master" ones ???
I know a few hard-hard, but no hard-easy.

OT : Everything what's based on Magic the Gathering.

The 3D Fallout´s come in mind. Especially Fallout New Vegas. If it´s your first playtrough, you'll get killed. A lot. Cazadores, Deathclaws, Legion and NCR strike teams, Golden Geckos, Nightkin, and you get the ideia. It´s hard as fuck not getting pwounded so bad the first time you play it. But after you understand the basics, and after you set a mental note to "never come back to Death Wind Cave being only level 8 you maniac", the game becomes easy, and mastering it is much more comfortable.

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Fallouts are very easy to learn. That's what "training areas" are for afterall. When you're leaving this stage behind you, you know pretty much everything you need to know to play this particular game.

Old flying simulators. Those were pain in the ass. I remember KA-52 Hokum simulator. Some people weren't able to start a mission, not to mention finish it. Nowadays there aren't such games anymore.

 

[Erttheking]

Halo definatly. The campaign has a difficulty curb that can be managed by newcomers, but the online multiplayer can be brutal. I consider myself decent considering that I am a veteran to the series, but I occasionaly get stuck against a guy that decimates me...usually by kill farming in objective games, to the point where he prefers to stick near the spawn points, refusing to go out of his safe zone or hoarding power weapons.

 

[ChocoFace]

League of Legends is a great example.
If you pass the tutorial and have learn the basics, you'll be able to play the game at a lower level with moderate success.

Then comes knowing the advanced stuff: positioning in teamfights, timing skills so maximum synergy is achieved, where and when to ward, getting dragon every time it spawns, which champion counters which and so on.

I've recently moved over to Heroes of Newerth, which is like LoL on steroids and loving it.

 

[veloper]

I don't think Starcraft or Street Fighter are all that easy to learn.

While I can do the Street Fighter specials, it did require a fair bit of practise before I could do them and I still have trouble pulling off Supers/Ultras consistently. Maybe I just suck. I also doubt that a newcomer will know the significant moves of every character until they've put in 20-30 hours. You will probably find yourself looking up the control inputs for special moves even after 100 hours of playing.

Starcraft also takes time to learn the basics like what the various units do and how the tech trees work. The concepts of explosive/concussive damage are rather tricky because you have to remember unit sizes. The way the Devourers' attack works is rather arcane and many players do not seem to know how it works. Once again, it will be some time before a newcomer really knows the rules of the game.

I'd say the chinese board game Go was the best example. After about ten minutes of play, a noob will understand the rules. But it has as much depth as chess, possibly more. It also has a handicap system so rank beginners don't have to deal with the frustration of never winning.

More games need a handicap system IMO. Suppose in Starcraft 2, instead of segregating players by skill, they just made the worker unit more expensive for the better player. This would avoid a common noob problem, that often there isn't anyone online who sucks as badly as you, especially for older games.

This is a good answer.

Games like Street fighter 2, cannot possibly qualify because there is more than enough pure knowledge there to simply learn by heart.
Learn the combinations to perform all the special moves, what the moves do, what the start of opponent special moves and combos look like, etc.


Ironicly, the simplest rules and mechanics are often found in puzzle games, that actually require the player to think. Cogs is an example.

 

[RickyRich]

MORTAL KOMBAT! No matter how good you are, there is always someone who can beat you so badly you never want to look at the game ever again.